“The first tryout, he had that muscle pull, and he just couldn't do it,” UTSA coach Larry Coker said. “So, I had pretty much written him off.

“But as we got (more of) a chance to see him, we noticed, 'This kid is tough. He's athletic. He's the kind of player we'd like to have on our football team.'”

The tight end is now a team captain, preparing to take the field at the Alamodome on Saturday against Louisiana Tech. Moeller is one of 10 seniors, including the likes of Eric Soza and Steven Kurfehs, playing their final regular-season game.

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Senior day

UTSA will honor 10 seniors Saturday at the Alamodome in the regular-season finale against Louisiana Tech.

S Cody Berry, Cedar Hill

LB Brandon Guerrero, Lake Elsinore, Calif.

DE Jarron Harris, Leander

LB Steven Kurfehs, O'Connor

TE Jeremiah Moeller, New Braunfels Canyon

RB Evans Okotcha, Coppell

DE Will Ritter, Odessa Permian

WR John Simmons, New Braunfels

RB CheRod Simpson, Oakland, Calif.

QB Eric Soza, Beeville Jones

Jerry Briggs

The moment will be particularly poignant for Moeller, who nearly gave up on football after graduation from New Braunfels Canyon High in 2009.

He went to Howard College in Big Spring that fall and tried baseball.

He later moved to Lubbock in 2010 and enrolled at Texas Tech. After a football tryout as a walk-on didn't pan out, he just continued his studies there.

Later, a relative in the San Antonio area called him and told him about the start of football at UTSA.

“I missed football,” he said. “I thought, 'Why not, give it a chance?' You might regret it later on.”

Moeller wasn't totally discouraged after his first UTSA tryout ended in pain and with an ice bag on his leg.

“(Assistant) coach (Travis) Bush pulled me aside and told me to come join the team in spring ball and see what happens,” Moeller said. “It ended up working out.”

Perhaps the highlight of his career came in the summer 2012, when Coker told him he was being placed on scholarship. It may have surprised Moeller, but not his teammates, who knew the veteran coach held him in high regard.

“I feel like it's an honor every day to watch him in the weight room,” Soza, the team's quarterback, once said.

Known as a fierce blocker on the offensive line, he capped 2012 with a 34-yard TD pass reception from Soza to help UTSA close out the season with a victory over Texas State.

Recently, the team's surge into contention for the Conference USA West Division title has stoked Moeller's competitive fire.

After being projected in the summer as a last-place team in the division, UTSA has won four in a row, including two straight against bowl-eligible competition.

Moeller said emotions during locker-room celebrations started to build after a Nov. 2 win at Tulsa and then went “out the roof” following victories over Tulane and most recently North Texas.

“I wish everyone could see that because it's a sight,” he said.

Moeller said he looks forward to returning to take in a game on the UTSA sidelines 10 or 15 years from now. He said he'll always remember “just how fast we helped build this program.”

“Our first year, we were Division I-AA, and now to be in our third year and be up for a conference championship, it's unreal,” Moeller said. “(I'll remember) that and the close bond with our teammates.”